Women, especially, get to a certain age and there is an expectation to start a family and if you haven’t already people will start asking when you’re going to – as if you owe them a young family member being created just to settle their needs. However, creating a family isn’t always that easy.
Creating Your Own Family
When we think of family, we tend to think firstly of having children and creating that traditional family unit. However, actually family is about something much bigger & many of us are in family setups outside of the norm that work perfectly well for us. Groups of friends that live together, close friends that go on holiday together and even work colleagues that have our backs – all family in their own way. Dating a partner that already has kids, or loving a pet dog like you’ve never loved anything before – all family. So, yes having children for many is the ultimate goal and something they would love to achieve one day, but if it isn’t your goal then don’t beat yourself up about it – family comes in all shapes and sizes.
Talking About Your Struggles
Proxeed has recently released an ‘Art of Trying‘ campaign that looks at fertility and the struggles that people may face when wanting to have a baby and start a family. Fertility is somewhat of a personal topic and something that only the person/people going through it really know what it is like, but their campaign talks about general feelings and how you should seek help for how you are feeling. It talks largely about the strain couples can feel when trying for a baby and how communication is key. Their campaign can be read in full here and have some useful tips for how to cope, especially when you’re finding it hard to communicate how you are feeling. They also talk about the practical side of things, to see if there is a way out of your fertility difficulties.
Carving Out a Fulfilled Life
Whether or not you want children, one of the most important things is to look after yourself – and carve out a life you are happy with. Of course, things don’t always go to plan and there are going to be times when life is tough but working out what you want from life and what it would take to make you happy can help. So create your own family made up of friends and people you know, get a dog or a pet spider, create a little garden at the back of your house or take up rock climbing. Create a varied life that makes you happy & hopefully the rest will all fall into place.
However, if it doesn’t and you are finding things tough then seek help, tell people how you are feeling, explore all the options and know that you are never, ever alone.
If you have any thoughts on creating a family we’d love you to share them – please kind to each other & we really do value your thoughts on what is undoubtedly a difficult topic for many to think and talk about.
*Collaborative post
About Debz Louise
Debz Louise is a UK-based lifestyle expert and the founder of several lifestyle blogs, including Wannabe Princess and Under 5s. Specializing in everything from interior design and home renovation to body-positive fashion and early years development,